The Problem Possible Causes Fix-it Tips for Now or Next Time

Cookie dough is sticky and difficult to roll and cut.

The dough probably became too warm. In particular, doughs rich in butter and egg are especially difficult to handle if not kept very cold.

A quick chill in the refrigerator or freezer will make most doughs behave—butter solidifies quickly. For ease of handling, roll the dough between sheets of parchment paper, then chill. You can add more flour as a last resort if chilling doesn’t do the trick.

Dough sticks to springerle mold, tears, and won’t stay together when turned out of the mold.

The dough is too warm. Keep the dough as cool as possible, leaving the portion you aren’t working with in the re-frigerator. Use a fine sieve to dust flour over the mold or, even better, dust the dough that will be pressed against it.

Slice-and-bake cookies are not perfectly round.

Refrigerating a quickly hand-formed log often creates imperfections. Also, the pressure of slicing can flatten the bottom of the log.

Roll the log a couple times throughout the chilling process to work out inconsistencies of shape. Rotate the log while you’re work-ing to prevent an uneven shape. If the dough feels uneven and bumpy when you begin, let it soften for a few minutes and roll it against the counter until it evens out. Refrigerate once more, then begin slicing and baking.

Cookies are unappealingly white, pallid. Recipes that contain mostly white ingredi-ents (bleached flour, cake flour, shortening, granulated and confectioners’ sugar) will make lighter cookies. Cookies containing baking powder will brown less than those made with baking soda, so be sure not to confuse the two. Also, your oven may not be hot enough.

Try increasing the oven temperature by 25°F to see if you get better results. Using unbleached flour in your next batch will take your cookies up a shade; and substituting a little butter, margarine, or butter-flavored shortening for some of the white shorten-ing will impart a golden hue (but watch the spread! See next tip).

It’s especially unnerving when a Christmas cookie recipe you’ve

been making for years suddenly comes out screwy—whether it’s

too soft or too dry, overly brown or not brown enough. Wouldn’t it

be great if you knew exactly what causes the problem? This handy

chart tackles some of the most common cookie calamities.

CookieTroubleshootingGuide

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Photos: Scott P

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The Problem Possible Causes Fix-it Tips for Now or Next Time

Rolled cut-outs spread, blurring shape. The dough was too warm going into the oven—the edges of cold dough will firm and set in the oven before the center of the dough warms, which inhibits spread and creates defined edges on cut-outs. Cookies rich in butter, molasses, honey, and a lot of leavening may not be suitable for detailed cut-outs, so beware when adapting recipes to a new use.

A quick chill before baking is an easy fix: Just pop the cookie sheet, with cut-out dough and all, into the refrigerator or the freezer if you have room. If this doesn’t solve the spreading, knead a small amount of flour into the dough. Flour is a guaranteed fix, but use it as a last resort, since the finished texture and flavor will change.

Cookies brown too much but are not overbaked.

An overly hot oven can make cookies brown before they’re baked through, but browning is often an ingredient issue as well. Molasses, honey, corn syrup, dark brown sugar, milk products, and baking powder all encourage browning. Substituting dark brown sugar for light can dramatically change the color of your cookie.

For a quick fix, try reducing the oven temperature by 25°F. If you don’t see better results, next time substitute some lighter ingredients, like bleached flour or granulated sugar, or reduce the amount of liquid sugars (molasses, honey, corn syrup) in the recipe.

Cookies are pale on top and burnt on bottom.

An oven that runs too hot; the use of dark, heavy baking sheets; the placement of baking sheets on the bottom rack of the oven, or any combination of these three things will cause your cookies to burn only on the bottom.

If you don’t bake often, get an oven thermometer. It will save you lots of guesswork. Choose lighter baking sheets for your cookie baking or a double pan (stack an extra pan underneath) to better insulate the dough. Always, always rotate pans from the top to bottom rack (and back to front) midway through if the oven has hot spots for even color and texture.

Cookies don’t spread enough. Recipes high in shortening and flour but lean on sugar are more resistant to spread in the oven. A change in flour type or brand can cause this—both cake and bread flours absorb more liquid than other flours. A too-cool oven is another possible culprit. Leaving out or using expired leavening makes for leaden cookies, as does adding too many nuts or chips.

Before you start next time, scrutinize your flour and leavening, making sure you have the appropriate, fresh ingredients on hand. Try holding back 2 Tbs. to 1⁄4 cup of the flour at the end of the mixing. Before adding the last of the flour, bake a test cookie to check the texture. This will also help you decide whether to increase the heat a little. Adding extra chips is fine, but don’t double the amount.

Gingerbread ornaments/house cut-outs are too soft and cakey.

Many gingerbread cookie recipes have generous amounts of molasses, which keeps baked cookies soft and contributes to a cakey texture. They’re delicious to eat but tend to be too delicate to handle if not thoroughly baked.

For firmer cookies that will stand up to being frosted, hung, or assembled into a house, return the cookies to the oven and bake until well done to compensate for the softening effect of the molasses. Next time try adding more flour to the dough to accomplish the same thing, or reduce the amount of molasses slightly.

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The Problem Possible Causes Fix-it Tips for Now or Next Time

Chocolate chip cookies spread too much. Recipes based on the Toll House® recipe are rich in butter, sugar, and egg, all of which contribute to spread. A change in flour can alter spread, even just a brand change. A too-hot oven or too-warm dough is a sec-ondary cause. If a recipe calls for lots of chips and nuts, but you leave out the nuts, your cookies will be flatter and wider.

Chilling the dough before baking might fix the cookies. If not, stir a small amount of flour into the dough. Flour is a guaranteed fix, but also a last resort, since the texture and flavor will change. Adjust the oven tempera-ture, if necessary, and be sure you’ve added the amount of chips and nuts specified.

Chocolate chip cookies are too crisp and thin.

Recipes generous in butter and sugar but lean on egg and leavening create crisper cookies. Was the leavening left out or the flour mismeasured? Did you use smaller eggs than specified?

First, try chilling the dough to firm up the butter and slow down spread. If this doesn’t do the trick, beat in half an egg (or a whole one if the recipe contains no egg and calls for at least 2 cups flour) and 2 Tbs. flour. Bake a test cookie before adding more flour.

Chocolate chip cookies are too cakey or dry, or both.

The most common cause is using a different flour than usual, such as cake flour, and measuring flour with too heavy a hand. Using larger eggs than called for can make cookies cakey, as will the addition of milk or more milk or other liquids than specified.

Next time try holding back 2 Tbs. to 1⁄4 cup of the flour at the end of mixing. Before adding the last of the flour, bake a test cookie to check the texture. Make sure the eggs are the right size and omit the milk if you prefer denser cookies.

Oatmeal cookies are crumbly and dry. Classic oatmeal cookies have a lot of oats, which can be drying to the finished cookie and make them more susceptible to over-baking. Mismeasuring flour can also tip the balance from crisp-chewy to dry. Using all granulated sugar for the brown sugar will create a drier cookie, too, since the molas-ses in brown sugar provides moisture.

Try removing the cookies from the oven be-fore the centers are set—you’ll be surprised at how much the cookies will firm as they cool. Next time hold back 1⁄4 cup of the flour and/or 1⁄2 cup of oats and bake a test cookie; add more if needed. Most oatmeal cookies call for some brown sugar—be sure to add the right amount and the right type.

Drop sugar cookies or gingersnaps don’t have cracked tops.

Baking powder and soda give these cookies their characteristic cracks, so stale leavening is probably at fault here. Also, the right amount of flour is necessary to allow the dough to expand, crack, and set at just the right time—too much flour will prevent this from happening. Check the oven temperature, too, since a hotter oven is sometimes better for these cookies.

Next time, be sure you have fresh leavening on hand before you start baking—baking soda isn’t usually tightly sealed and loses its power faster than baking powder from exposure to warm, humid air. Hold back 2 Tbs. of the flour and bake a test cookie before deciding to add it to the dough. This will also let you know if you need to boost the heat in the oven.

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The Problem Possible Causes Fix-it Tips for Now or Next Time

Biscotti are hard and tough instead of crisp. Biscotti that are cut while too soft will compress and have a tougher bite. Adding too much flour for ease of handling can also toughen these cookies. Using the wrong, too little, or expired leavening will have the same effect.

For a quick fix, try drying out your baked, sliced cookies further in a 300°F oven—this will minimize toughness. Next time, cool the baked cookie log longer before slicing to prevent compressing, and use a sharp, serrated knife. Avoid kneading in more flour when shaping the cookies, and don’t use leavening more than a year old.

Peanut butter cookies are too crumbly. Flour is likely at issue here, but changing brands of peanut butter will also affect texture.

Next time try holding back 2 Tbs. to 1⁄4 cup of the flour at the end of mixing. Before adding the last of the flour, bake a test cookie to check the texture. Be sure to use the type of peanut butter called for, since added sugar and salt will affect the texture and flavor of your cookies.

Baked meringue cookies are chewy and slightly soft instead of crunchy.

Either the meringues were undercooked and the remaining moisture caused them to lose their crunch or the meringues picked up moisture from the air due to improper storage. Rainy weather could also be at fault, since humidity quickly softens even the most perfectly crisp meringues.

Spread the meringues on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in a 225°F oven until dry and crisp, at least 20 minutes. On rainy days, let the meringues cool in the oven after the heat is turned off—you can even let them sit overnight. Store them in airtight containers when completely cool.

Shortbread tastes pasty instead of buttery.

It may be underbaked or the oven temperature may be too low. Another possibility is that you added too much cornstarch or confectioners’ sugar.

Return underbaked shortbread to a 350°F oven until it begins to turn golden. Flour and starch need to be cooked thoroughly to lose their cereal flavor and let the toasty flavor of the butter shine.

Shortbread crumbles when cut. The shortbread is no longer warm. Shortbread is prized for its sandy, crumbly crisp texture, but this makes it difficult to cut when cool.

Use a serrated knife to gently saw the shortbread into pieces. Next time score the shortbread before baking or when it first comes out of the oven and cut through while it’s still warm.

Fine Cooking magazine features hands-on, how-to cooking information for cooks of all skill levels. The magazine is published seven times a year.

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by Nicole Rees; excerpted from Fine Cooking’s book How To Break an Egg: 1,453 Kitchen Tips, Food Fixes, Emergency Substitutions, and Handy Techniques.

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